Snippets: A Page in the Life
by Itome
Summary: A series of not [really] connected one page shorts about the Inugang's and other character's lives. Do enjoy! Rated for language, and violence. Please R&R.
1. Silent Night

**AN:** Welcome to Snippets, a series of little shorts, no more than a page, each one a new story looking into some aspect of the lives of the Inu gang. There will be language, nothing too strong but still, be warned! I don't own any of the people who you recognize. Plots and OCs are mine. Do enjoy them!

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'_No, you can't do this to me Shizu, you know you can't!'_

'_It's too late now, let me go, let me finally have some peace, can't you see this is your_ _fault?'_

The scenes changed to a later time.

'_Look Sesshomaru, he's your new baby brother, don't you like him?'_

'_No,' he turned leaving a shocked Izayoi and a slightly fuming father in the hall._

Once again, the images shifted.

'_Everyday he comes home crying, why are you never there to protect him?' Sesshomaru had had it with this question._

'_You want to know fine, I'll tell you why. That thing is the bane of my life; because of him you killed my mother. If you never loved her then why did you make her suffer for you? Why are you such an anal retentive bastard?' He raged. His father stared at him like he had never seen him before._

-------

Sesshomaru tossed in his sleep, horrid memories kept permeating his dreams and twisting them into nightmares. Which seemed ever closer, ever more like he was back in that time, the closer they were to his present age, he woke with a gasp and looked around his room while his back prickled uncomfortably with cold sweat.

He wished for his mother, she always knew when he slept badly and always came to assuage his fears. Now not only was he too old for that, his mother would never again walk in the halls of the house.

Sesshomaru reached across his cluttered night table. Though to the outside world he presented an image of neatness, his personal life was far from organized. At home, he let chaos rule supreme.

He grabbed the small gold circle he was aiming for. Bringing it towards his nose he hit the catch and it popped open. It was a make-up compact that had belonged to his mother. Not even a touch of the pale powder remained but her scent lingered on. It was slightly chalky, due to it being make-up but it was nonetheless, hers.

It had been the only thing he had been able to save from his father's purge of the house. Everything to do with his mother, gone: books, furniture, bedclothes, decorations, paint, whole rooms totally emptied and then redone by his step-mother. He was sure that his father felt regret for his mother's death, sure he still felt sad some nights. Perhaps this was his way of trying to escape emotions that threatened to take over.

Sesshomaru breathed in deeply and closed the compact. Carefully he replaced it in its spot on his cluttered night table.

'_In the end, can anyone ever truly be happy?_' He wondered. For only four years after Inuyasha's birth, Izayoi had passed away from breast cancer.

At least his mother had her vengeance in the end. He turned over onto his other side to sleep.


	2. Betrayal

Touga sighed and dropped down onto the couch. "Darling, I don't know how to say this." He sighed. Shizuka stood across the coffee table, her arms crossed and her blue eyes turned to steel.

"Tell me what? That you have a pregnant mistress," his head shot up in surprise, "oh, I've known since we had her here for dinner two moths ago. Truly you have lost your nose if you couldn't smell it on her." She kept her voice icy but never did she yell. As far as Touga was concerned that only made it worse.

"It has given me time," she continued, "to make suitable arrangements. No one will figure out about your infidelity, I won't let my mate, as wretched as he may be, have his name brought down. You better pray that it isn't some hideous creature Toga. A demoness wouldn't have been so bad, but a human? What the hell were you thinking? Don't give me any shit about connections or love, why the hell did you not use protection? You just can't seem to forget those long-gone high schools days where you had mummy and daddy as well as a fleet of household staff, agents and lawyers all ready to help. It's the real world now and it only takes five thousand to get a secret from someone you trust." Her voice rose with every line, until she trembled.

"What did I do wrong?" tears lightly fell down her face and Shizuka fled the room. Touga leaned back into the plush suede couch, he really couldn't answer her and maybe she was right.

-------

She kissed her son goodbye, not that she was planning to leave but she planned on taking a walk and Sesshomaru looked like some sort of angel, sliver hair hung gently around his small face. She pushed it out of his eyes and headed to the window in his room. Though she had just berated her husband for it, she jumped through the square hole and landed in the back garden. A short walk brought her to the front yard. Shizuka slipped down the driveway and towards the city in utter silence, she never noticed the figures that melted into the bushes and shadows, which now followed her.

-------

Someone was following her; she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She sped up and headed down a nearby alley, her pulse filled her ears in the darkness. A sound, a bang, pierced the silence. She knew too late it was a gunshot. Burning pain exploded through her right side. Her body fell and four people approached.

Moonlight graced the face of the gunner.

"You, why are you doing this?" She gasped, her blood slowly pooled from the wound.

"Because, you are in the way, because you treat him like shit, because you are a bitch and you will never make him happy."

"Well, then, tell him I'm sorry." Shizuka tore her locket off and glanced at the picture of her son. "Tell Sesshomaru, I love him and to slit your impertinent throat."

Arm raised, gun cocked, aim, she watched as the black beast was pointed at her head. Goodnight was the last thing she heard before the explosion and then……………….


	3. Remember

Like something out of an eerie, macabre movie, his mother made her way up the stairs. She swayed form side to side ever so slightly and long, white fingers brushed the polished oak banister. Pronounced cheekbones, dark circles under her eyes, an emaciated form, all this coupled with the swaying gait made him want to run, to get away from this apparition. A tear fell down her cheek.

"Oh Sesshomaru, I'm so sorry." She fell to her knees in front of him, pulling him into a hug. New angles, sharp bones and ribs, he could count them now, encircled his small form. He remembered when she had been more than just a bag of bones and flesh, when her skin held firm and muscles were still there.

He was never going to forgive his father for this. He would never forgive the man, sire though he may be, for the pain inflicted on his mother. That bitch, that human bitch, would never hold his respect. That pup she would soon bare would be a constant reminder of his mother's suffering, his father's shame and his eternal hatred. An eternal and everlasting hatred of that child and the bitch's race, those stinking little humans who valued themselves and their lives far too much, he would never forgive them!

Sesshomaru no longer feared his father, no longer loved him. His new goal was to become strong, strong enough to defeat that man and to make his mother happy again. She had only ever suffered for them, put them before her. She cooked, cleaned, cared, bough clothes, did the laundry. Trivial tasks but not ones he would relish doing.

Would that human do them? Would she be any better? Or, would she hire servants, mistreat him, ignore her child and solely cater to the whims of his father? He never wanted to find out but he doubted his mother would ever recover. Deep down, he knew she was dying. He held her a little tighter.

-------

Shizuka gripped her son tightly, letting her tears of regret and hatred for her once-mate soak into the shoulder of her son's shirt. She hated Touga and herself. She had allowed herself to become a shade, a mere wisp of her previous self. Shame burned through her veins and refused to let her eat or sleep. She knew her death was coming, could feel it in her heart. She prayed Touga would have the sense to see that Sesshomaru was raised properly but the man was a fool!

"I must make some, arrangements, so if something happens to me, you shall not be raised by that soft little girl-child."

Sesshomaru looked into his mother's eyes, once bright blue, now they were dull.

"Yes, I understand Momma." Shizuka gave furtive laugh, what a façade they were putting on, they both knew this was the end.

"Please Momma, be strong! How else can you go on? What shame will you bring upon yourself if you let this kill you?" She gave him a weak smile and let him take her to her room.

'_You know that the shame has already killed me, my dear son.'_


	4. Coffee Shop

The soft clink of china on tables, the rich aroma of coffee and various cakes filled her nose. Kagome gave a satisfied sigh and pushed her dark plastic frame glasses up; they had slipped down her nose. She was writing her next story, the follow-up to her best seller "In the Depths of the Snow" which was a somewhat tragic love story.

Resting her hands for a moment to take a sip from her mug, she heard the small bell at the front door ring; she looked and was happy to see that he had come. She waved him over to the small table on the corner.

"Inuyasha, you made it."

"It's not like I was planning on avoiding you. Traffic was hell though; I don't see why you insist upon using this place."

"Oh come on, it has ambience." Kagome waved her hand at the shop, rich red wallpaper, deep wood paneling, and vintage posters made up the décor.

"Whatever," He huffed, "at least it's warm."

A waitress came to take his order and soon that delicious coffee smell filled the little corner they sat in much more strongly. Kagome was typing away and the now defrosted Hanyou was engrossed in a novel.

Kagome was pleased, she didn't need to speak, didn't need to try and come up with small talk, it had never been a strong point. She was glad that Inuyasha understood this, unlike other men she had met. He was also one of those people like her, who didn't have this urge to speak constantly and never stop. She smiled as she typed the next few lines of dialogue between her main characters, Kannon and Seramylu.

"So, Inuyasha, do you know if there are any good movies playing tonight?"

"I think so, have you seen Hurt yet?"

"No, it looks good, do you want to go out and see it?"

"Sure thing Kagome."

They stood and gathered up their things, Kagome zipped up her laptop bag and then pulled on her dark pea coat. Inuyasha paid for their things, despite Kagome's protests and together they headed out into the chilly day.

"Hey Yash,"

"Yeah?"

"Can I bum a ride off you, I used public transit."


	5. Blood Oranges

**AN:** Yay, a review! Thanks very much to InuLover53, glad you like them.

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The soft hiss-thunk of her knife was the only noise in the white kitchen. Sango Nishikawa was diligently cutting up an orange to bring up to her brother Kohaku, who was sick.

Sango mused as she created segments out of the orange halves; he never really ad been the same after he got into that accident. Now he got sick so easily and was really frail. She was so worried about him.

Sango carefully arranged the shimmering sweet fruit segments on a plate and made her way towards Kohaku's room.

"Ko, are you awake?" She softly tapped on his door; he might have fallen asleep since he requested the snack.

"No, I'm up sis." His voice was hard to hear. Sango opened the door, revealing an almost surgically clean room, white bed, white walls, and white curtains. Their mother had gone on a rampage and stripped Kohaku's room, turning it into a hospital at home. Sango missed the posters of his favourite comic heroes and various video game characters. The floor was empty too; no clothes or papers littered the white carpet.

"Careful not to get juice on your blankets, ok?" She smiled and passed him the plate.

"Sure thing sis." Kohaku gave her a wan smile and shifted so he could eat.  
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Sango made her way downstairs with the empty plate, Kohaku had fallen asleep. The phone rang, she picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sango, are we still good for tonight?" It was Miroku. Sango winced and then pulled on a cheery face.

"Yeah we're good. So you'll get me at 8?"

"Yep, see ya then!" Sango sighed and put the phone back on the stand. She had completely forgotten about their date. Finding she was hungry she went back into the kitchen and pulled out another orange. Hiss-thunk.

"Aieeeee!" She screamed as she pulled the knife away, it was dripping red. She took a minute to catch her breath, realizing it was simply a Ruby-Punch orange. Sango finished cutting the citrus fruit and arranged it on her own plate.

She took her plate into the family room and switched on the T.V. The same boring shows that had been on yesterday were seemingly on constant repeat. Sango decided to watch her favourite anime, Moment by Moment.

The plot was eerily similar to her own life. The tragic heroine hiding a dark past, the handsome suitor trying to find her secrets, sometimes she had to turn it off, it was too similar. She bit into her orange slice.

It's not always easy to hide things like a blood orange.


	6. Drama and Music Nerds

She let out a soft giggle at the joke he just told the group. She didn't want anyone to know she really might like him. They had made it difficult enough last time.

"You should go out with him!"

"But, Koga's not really my type."

"Aww, come on, he's so cute!"

They had kept at it till Koga started dating a girl named Ayame at the beginning of second semester, last year. Kagome rocked back and forth on her heels lightly as Inuyasha waved the group goodbye and headed over to his friends.

It was too bad they only had drama together, that and Inuyasha was one of the school radio people and hung out in the booth a lot. She was a theatre kid, kept to the dark auditorium with the other thespian types.

"So, Kagome, did you say that he has to kiss your check in one scene?" Sango questioned Kagome about the script her class was doing, Butterflies are Free. She was playing Mrs. Baker, and her son, Don, kisses her on the cheek in one scene. Who else but Inuyasha to be cast in that role! It made her a little nervous.

"Yeah, he does, umm, I'm really thirsty, can't we go the vending machines?"

"Whatever you say!" Sango chirped and they headed down the hall.

Kagome couldn't help glancing over when she saw him. He smiled at her. She smiled back. She stood there for a few moments after he left, daydreaming, it was Sango's hand flapping in front of her face that brought her back to reality.

"Hello, earth to Kagome! Yellow, blue or red?" Sango gestured at the buttons on the side of the Powerade machine.

"Uhh, yellow." She turned to her friend, trying not to blush.

"You like him, don't you?" Sango had that sly look on her face. It made Kagome gulp slightly as she bent to pull the bottle from the slot.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't." She shrugged and tried to look aloof.

"You aren't fooling me missy." Sango waggled her finger at Kagome. Kagome only rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, whatever Sango."

The girls headed into the theater. Kagome was glad for the darkness, because there he was again. Maybe, just maybe, something might come of this. She picked up her script and headed down to the stage to rehearse.


End file.
